Loving Father, I am regularly amazed at how You can take something that I have a certain amount of hesitancy about and use it in a way that touches people’s hearts. It is a great reminder and encouragement for me to know that I am certainly cherished by You but though I may feel limited and limiting, You still get Your word out! Praise the Almighty King!
Luke 7:11-17 (<<click to read the passage)
I know what compassion means but looked it up anyway. When I typed in the word “compassion”, this came up on Google.
What does it mean to have compassion?
If someone shows kindness, caring, and a willingness to help others, they’re showing compassion. This is a word for a very positive emotion that has to do with being thoughtful and decent. … When you have compassion, you’re putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and really feeling for them.
I don’t know about you, but I felt that that explanation fell a little flat. …being…decent? …really feeling for them? Yeah, but…
Further down the page were this question and answer.
What is the biblical meaning of compassion? (emphasis mine)
Compassion alludes to kindness and sympathy, but there is something deeper, something even more profoundly powerful, in its meaning. … The Bible talks of a God who has compassion for Israel. It tells of a Savior who suffers for the world, and it asks us to live and act compassionately. (This is from Compassion International’s website.)
In reading through today’s passage, the line that caught my attention right off was
When the Lord saw her [a widow whose only son had died], his heart overflowed with compassion. NLT (emphasis mine)
As I have stated before, God’s word speaks more clearly than anything I could ever write. Here are more verses that speak of our Lord’s compassion to us. (These and many more can be found on the Compassion International link above.)
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Exodus 33:19 NIV
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10 NIV
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. Psalm 145:8-9 NIV
Yes, the Lord has great compassion for us, but we also have a responsibility to show it to others.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12 NIV
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Philippians 2:1-2 NIV
Lord Jesus, may we wholeheartedly embrace Your compassion for us all and may we, like You, purposely, graciously be about sharing it with all we meet. Amen.
Mar 1st, 2020, Sun, 5:37 pm
